First Congregational Forum

The first our congregational forums is behind us. The meeting was well attended and there was a diversity of members there. The purpose of the forums is to provide another means of receiving input from the congregation on matters that the leadership is considering. This particular meeting, however, was an opportunity to address any questions or discuss any issues members had.

As you would imagine, many of the questions received were about the recent change to one service and the type of service we have been doing in terms of worship style. For example, someone asked, "What is a blended service?" Several people afford their prospective on the question and gave suggestions. Tyler shared that his goal in designing the service is that everyone would find, at least one element of the service that connects them to God in worship.

Another subject that came up in several different forms is how the make-up of the church has changed over the last five to ten years. This will always be true of growing congregations. Our demographics have changed. Our talent pool has changed. We have different musicians with different talents. This affects the type of blended service we can provide with quality.

While the discussions were, for the most part, good, I was disappointed in the fact that much of it was focused on the past and on the negative. This was to be expected since we did invite members to share their questions and concerns. A certain amount of "venting" is healthy and even beneficial. However, I now believe the time for that is over. We need to put the past behind us, and move forward together.

I did not say much at the meeting because we wanted to hear from the congregation. What I did say was that while it is true we are a different church than we were eight years ago, I firmly believe we are a BETTER church than we were then. I also believe that eight years from now, we will be an even better church than we are now. We are growing as a congregation both numerically and spiritually. We have a committed and united leadership that is truly focused on our mission as a church. We positioned to reach this community during this time of difficulty as never before.

Future forums will be more focused on specific ideas or plans that the leadership team is considering. Congregational input is critically important to our success as a church. Their focus will be on the great things God is doing through us to reach the lost and build His kingdom through Crossroads.